This column is being done at my lovely house. This past week I've been at the Alabama Governor's School for Arts and Technology getting some nice training in art. There's one thing I have to say about the computer labs there: it's so not fair. They've got labs full of G4 towers and copies of every single major piece of graphics software, like Photoshop, Flash, Dreamweaver, KPT, Bryce, Poser, Maya ... ¿Entiende Vd., no?.

Oh right, that reminds me. Castomel was only partially correct at the bottom of yesterday;s column in refering to Spanish and Latin quotes. My last column didn't have Latin. It did have Euskara though, commonly referred to as Basque. Enough yacking, my copy of Carrara Studio 2 just came in and I keep telling myself I won't play with it until this is done.

Now being a proud owner of all three "Next Gen" systems I
have a very valid question. I know every Rpgamer is anit-microsoft but I don't
understand why!? All of the developers should flock to them playing all
three to me it defintely seems like X-Box is the most powerful in terms of
well...everything (except games of course) It also saves u a hell of alot of
money compared to the other systems like no memory cards r needed, already has a
modem and 4 controller slots (and until this day i don't understand why the
Ps2 only had 2!?!) So plz tell me why does nobody like them??

guifa:
One of the reasons that I think Microsoft is having trouble is that they don't have many established series or exclusive games. PS2 got FFX and will be getting Xenosaga. For many people, that would be enough to get a PS2. For me with GameCube, Super Monkey Ball is so worth it, and games like Zelda, SSBM, RE 0-4, Metroid, etc., don't hurt.

What does Microsoft have? Not too much actually. As anyone should know, what makes any system "better" or "worse" is the games that it plays.

You mention that Xbox is the most powerful in everything except games, however, I beg to differ on this point. The Xbox is nothing more than PC parts put together with a slightly varied Windows kernel. Both the PS2 and the GameCube were developed specifically with games in mind. Also, the Xbox may save me money by giving me a hard drive on which to save games, but what if I wish to take my character to a friend's house for a multi-player game? If you have memory cards this is VERY easy, but if you have it on a hard drive, sucks to be you since that would mean lugging the world's largest console around with you. I personally have not found any game that interesets me that requires a modem yet, so coming with a modem isn't that spectacular to me. Not to mention the fact that most online games require you to PAY money on a regular basis, so giving me a modem will make me more likely to SPEND more money. I'll give you the four controller slots, pero a la vez I'll remind you that the GameCube also has four controller slots. Graphics-wise, the Xbox is about as powerful as the GameCube, each one exceeding the other in different areas.

I suppose you'd see a little more respect for Microsoft if they hadn't completely bought out a company for the sole purpose of getting a single must have game (which, I believe, was an indirect way of slapping Steve Jobs in the face, after he had had Bungie introduce Halo to the world during his Mac World Expo keynote speech, where it was specifically stated that the Mac would get Halo at the same time as Wintel platforms ... Xbox is based on a Windows kernel)

My name is guifa, not gufia, by the way

Hey Gufia,

1) Do you think that including comedy into a RPG's dialogue would make the game any better or having a varied response to questions asked by NPCs? (For instance: NPC: "It's very sunny out today" The player would have a choice of saying something like: "Yes" or, "I hope this sunshine lasts forever", or "I'm a vampire, it is killing me." or, "Your inane dribble is wasting my time and your astute observation of the flaming ball in the sky is amazing"

guifa:
"No it's not"

It would be nice, but it really depends on the game and the situation. I mean, if your maini character died, and the NPC were your best friend supposedly, it wouldn't be humorous (to me at least) for the NPC to crack a joke. But in a lot of other places I think it would be pretty funny. Scratch that. 99% of the places it would be funny.

2) Would including more realistic elements into RPG's (i.e....disease, hobbies, clothes, sports, music, varied personality, etc) would help individualize the game to suit the player?

guifa:
Quizá but I think it depends on the situation. In some games, like Harvest Moon, it would, but in others, when there needs to a pretty focused storyline, it wouldn't.

3) Is FF XI going to come out for the PC?

guifa:
Yes. It is already in beta testing in Japan. Whether it comes here or not is another question, but one I can answer with decent accuracy. "Yes," with a 0.1% chance of "no."

4) What the heck is with Lulu's dress? Is it on upside down? Or perhaps missing a scarf or something? Or is it just way too big?

guifa:
No comment.

5) Will square eventually take over every game company and run a lotto as to which gaming system they will make games for?

guifa:
Not if I have anything to say about it.

last one:
6) Do you think that the advancements in graphics will give the game companies more freedom to swear or put more graphic violence into RPGs (enough to warrant an M rating)? Or will RPGs stay relatively clean?

guifa:
Why would an advancement in graphics cause this? Blood has existed in games for some time now, it's just that RPG makers seem to use less of it. Of course, there's Parasite Eve and such. Basically, better graphics do mean designers have more freedom in terms of linguistical content or blood/violence content. Perhaps increase the quality that they can display it though.

Thanks for reading,

~Silversol

guifa:
Gracias por escribirme.

You died in an RPG? No way!

Greetings...
What do you think is a all-around good RPG that also delivers a challenge
adequate for an experienced gamer? I'm really getting bored of going
through games and never dying a single time...And do you think that the reason
these games seem too easy is experience playing them? Or that their producers
think we're too stupid to handle tougth games?

guifa:
If you're into tactical RPGs, a vast majority of those are pretty tough. If not, the last game I can remember dying in was Ogre Battle 64, erp, that's a TRPG. Uh... *tries to remember* DWVII and I'm told FFX as well. I died in Xenogears once or twice, maybe once in Parasite Eve. Estoy de acuerdo, I can remember back when we would use save points in case we would die, but now it just seems to be a thing used as nothing more then a pause before we continue on later (God forbid we'd need to stop playing RPGs for a few minutes). I think that in some ways we have gotten better, but it's not like newcomers to the RPG world find the games hard either. Your last theory is probably correct.

Quickies

What's the US's view of the World Cup? Do you get idiots shouting in
roads and breaking car windows too?

TSG

It changes methinks depending on how well we do at it. Unlike in sports such as football, it seems that a team/player must do well to gain respect from the public. If we're winning it seems, we like it. If not, we don't.

Forget question 3, I just read the site (duh)

thanks,
~silversol

Don't worry, we all do it. Son los enanos, digo yo. Es la culpa de ellos.

Tomorrow I'm going back to Montgomery for the final week of AGSAT. Oh and for that guy made me fly half-way across the nation for a court case dealing with my not liking Star Wars: Be afraid. Be very afraid. My evil little tree sprites can be deadly. And very stealthy too.